


Brainwash

by HMS_Hibiscus



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Brainwashing, Child Abuse, F/M, psychological abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 18:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Hibiscus/pseuds/HMS_Hibiscus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slade has taken over Jump City and set up centres for brainwashing the populace. After more than a year spent thinking the other Titans are dead, Robin and Raven meet each other at a centre, both of them pretending to be regular civilians.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Robin draws a wristwatch out from under his pillow. The tips of the hands are glow-in-the-dark green, dully luminous points that tell him ten minutes remain until midnight. He pushes back the itchy eiderdown and stands beside the cot. He's fully dressed save for his blazer which lies neatly folded in a narrow desk drawer on the floor. He plumps up his thin pillow as best he can and drapes the sheets over it. From a distance the bed still looks occupied. He spares a glance to check that he has not been seen. The sleeping boys around him have not stirred. His boots make no noise as he walks swiftly down the line of army cots. The air is still and muggy, full of deep breaths and snoring. He slows as he reaches the front of the converted gymnasium. There are only two Minders on duty. They sit at a table, one dozing, the other knitting. A small lantern stands on the table between them, casting a weak halo of blue light. Robin pauses, listens to the quiet clack of knitting needles. There is sudden silence as the dexterous movements of the Minder's hands falter. She sits forward in her chair, squinting into the shadows beyond the lamplight. Robin chooses this moment to step forward.

The Minder's eyes widen slightly as she sees him and she puts down her knitting and makes to stand. Robin strides up to her before she can leave her seat, gesturing dismissively with one hand. He's confident, he's supposed to be here. Without his blazer he can't display his rank any other way. He takes a slip of paper from the breast pocket of his shirt and calmly holds it out to her. She's scrutinizing him now, relaxing.

"Silver Elite is it?" She takes the slip from him and opens it.

"Yes. Minder Kritchley said I was to visit him," Robin replies, speaking low, though not quite whispering as she does. "It's an urgent matter," he adds, gazing over the top of her head.

"I see." The Minder sounds unimpressed, but that's to be expected. Where the Silver Elite are concerned, she's grown used to this stifled brand of cockiness. She purses her lips and hands the slip back to him. "You're to be no longer than an hour."

Robin ducks his head, a token display of respect, and walks around the table to the door, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets as he goes. It's too subtle for her to call him on, but sufficiently arrogant. The corridor outside is marginally cooler in comparison to the enclosed mugginess of the gymnasium. He smoothes the front of his shirt and breathes deeply for a few seconds before taking off again. He heads down the corridor, through a set of double doors and up a short flight of stairs. The musty smell of old floor wax becomes stronger as he passes several empty classrooms. He catches a fleeting glimpse of moonlight spilling in through a barred window; slanted rectangles of watery light striking a desk, and then he's looking ahead. A single door lies at the end of this passageway. He reaches it just as his ears pick up the rhythmic pad of footfalls. An instant later, the door is jerked inwards and he's face to face with a man, a Minder. Their eyes lock briefly, surprise mirrored on their faces, before Robin lowers his gaze and steps smoothly to one side.

"Minder." He lowers his head, staring at the man's black shoes. His fingers curl around the slip of paper still in his hand, but apparently the Minder has more pressing matters to concern himself with, for he walks on without a word. Robin straightens and steps through the doorway. The entrance hall is large and bare, the cream paint on the walls looks faded but clean, the floor too is lacklustre, the varnish worn on the wooden planking. Off to the left is the old office where middle-aged women used to sit managing the school's affairs, answering phones, photocopying documents, tending to students and visitors through a hatch in the wall. To the right are the main stairs, wide enough to accommodate four abreast. There are a set of high windows, though they are fitted with bars and covered in heavy blackout sheets. The only sources of light are two long fluorescent tubes that hang from the ceiling.

Robin crosses the entrance hall. The main door is unlocked, a hairclip sticks out of the keyhole, holding the bolt. Robin pushes the door open, removing the clip so that the lock clicks shut behind him. He hurries down a couple of steps, out from under the brick overhang, then he's on a gravel path, breathing in the dense summer night air.

He sees Raven, standing by a stone gate post. She's partially hidden by the low, twisted branches of an elm that grows behind the wall. Moonlight streaks through the twigs, tangling, bluish across her face.

"Yours." He hands her the hairclip.

"How much time do we have?"

"An hour." Robin peers around the gate post at the drive. Some distance away he can see the rough tips of a forest tree line. "Let's go before the patrol comes this way."

Raven nods and together they walk down the drive, away from the Centre.

The first time that Robin saw Raven at the Centre was on the morning of a Team Day. The students were gathered in the main hall, the boys on one side, the girls on the other. They stood silently in their lines, eyes directed ahead towards the stage where a podium stood. A school shield had once been attached to the front of the podium, but it had been removed, leaving behind a patch of rough, unvarnished wood. One of the Minders, Abrams, slowly climbed the steps up onto the stage and settled behind the podium. Abrams had a thin face; she looked almost skeletal, her flesh hung slackened and saggy, giving her features a permanently sunken appearance.

"Praise to the Master," she said.

"Praise." The students chanted in perfect unison. One voice, a punch of sound, no one was too slow or too fast. Abrams' gaze swept across the room of rigidly still young people.

"This week's Team Day activity is very important. We will be focusing on our inner-vision," she announced in gravelly tones. "As always, you will be assigned your place by a Silver Elite student. Once you have been chosen, accept a sash and stand with the rest of your team. You will then be assigned a room in which to begin."

"This should be good," Ben said in a low voice, looking back over his shoulder at Robin.

"Elite, let's go, take your sashes," Minder Mires called, moving down the line. He caught sight of Ben and Robin and hastened over to them, proffering a bundle of sashes. "What colours, boys?"

In the past, these sashes would have been used for PE lessons, with bats and rackets, balls and hoops. Sides, groups – teams. Robin remembered what these things had once meant, he kept them in the back of his mind like fragments of a language that was no longer spoken.

"Better start rounding up teams," Mires said. Robin gripped his sashes and stepped out of line behind Ben.

The absolute silence that had filled the hall moments before began to dissolve as the teenagers muttered quietly to each other. No longer looking ahead at the stage, their attention was now directed towards the select few students who were moving slowly among them, silver hawk emblems shinning on the upper arms of their jackets.

"D-3 has a new batch of Blind just come in the other week," Ben told Robin as he hitched ten maroon sashes over his shoulder, his eyes darting eagerly about the room. "Think you'll go for any of them?"

"No. Let someone else waste time on the Blind." Robin smiled thinly and hung his own blue sashes across his arm.

"Oh, I don't intend to waste my time," Ben laughed. "You know they give you extra credit for turning the new ones." A Minder standing close by threw him a warning look and he hastily wiped the smile from his face. "See you later, Rob." He strode off towards the front of the hall.

"Hey, Robert." A girl with auburn hair stepped boldly out of line and approached Robin. "Pick me?"

Robin barely looked at her.

"Why not? You haven't picked me for weeks." The girl put her hands on her hips. "I want to be on your team. You're the best and I –"

"You're right, I am," Robin interrupted, and tossed a sash at her carelessly. "Wait at the back." He turned away and walked down the line. There seemed to be no end to the number of hopeful faces that turned to him. He weighed up likely candidates with a detached expression and handed out two more sashes. Halfway down the third row he was stopped by Minder Buckley, a rotund man with a tidy little beard.

"Ah, Robert, I'm glad I bumped into you," The portly man said. "I hear you're forging quite a reputation for yourself. Your sessions are very popular."

"Thank you, sir." Robin's gaze slid away. The number of students who had not yet been selected for a team was fast depleting.

"Yes, and don't think your efforts are going unnoticed." Buckley's head bobbed up and down. "You're affective, that's what I like about you. Pay no attention to those who may disagree with your methods. The Master smiles upon you."

There was a tense moment of silence before Robin caught himself, his eyes snapping back to Buckley's expectant face.

"Praise – praise to the Master," he said quickly. "I'm only doing his work."

"Praise," Buckley replied. "Well, I won't keep you."

"Minder." Robin inclined his head and hurried on before the man could keep him any longer. He frowned when he saw that most of the other Silver Elite had finished handing out sashes and the teams were now assembled in clusters near the doors.

"Quiet now, boys and girls, quiet." Minder Abrams appeared suddenly in the midst of them. "There are still students to be selected."

There were indeed several wretched-looking individuals standing awkwardly about the hall, the rows they were formerly a part of having disintegrated.

"Looks like it's the dregs for us after all," said Ben loudly, appearing next to Robin and patting him on the shoulder in a consoling manner. There was a quiet ripple of laughter from the teenagers standing close by who had heard Ben's comment. Robin looked around and noticed that they were the last remaining Silver Elite without complete teams.

"Come along now, boys," Abrams said, gesturing for them to follow her into the middle of the room. A hush fell once more as the assembled groups turned to watch.

"Form a single line," Abrams called to the sash-less students. "Alright then. In turn, boys."

"Me first." Ben blew out his cheeks, cracked his knuckles and wiggled his head as if to loosen his neck. There was further muffled laughter from the assembled teenagers at Ben's exaggerated deliberation as he paced up and down in front of the remaining students. Finally coming to a decision, he awarded one girl a maroon sash with a flourish. Mortified and relieved in equal parts, the girl half-ran to the back of the hall where she did her best to disappear amongst her team. Ben winked at Robin as he swaggered back to stand beside him.

"You're up."

Robin said nothing but fixed a smirk on his face as he sauntered unhurriedly forward for a closer look at the hopefuls. He worked his way down the line, pausing briefly in front of a short boy who was staring determinedly at his feet. The boy's name was Earnest. He'd had his hands caned the previous day for falling asleep during Cleansing and he'd been made to stand on the stage the entire night as an example. Robin understood why the other Elite had given the boy a wide birth. He was reaching for a sash to hand Earnest when his eyes landed on the girl standing at his side. The shock of recognition froze him in place.

It was her. Raven. There were differences, but it was definitely her. She looked older. Her eyes were black, ink black, and her dark hair had been swept back from her face, twisted up behind her head. The small shard of red stone was missing from her forehead. But he knew this girl. He went and stood in front of her. She gazed impassively ahead, her eyes half-hooded. She ignored him without making it look studied. He blinked, concentrated on keeping his face blank. His hand was steady when he offered her a sash. She took it without hesitation, then left the line.

Robin went to stand at Ben's shoulder once more. The other boy said something, quirked his eyebrow in amusement, but none of it penetrated the strange numbing bubble that Robin now found himself in. He forced a grin for Ben's benefit, then pretended to become absorbed in untangling his remaining sashes.

They picked teammates from the line quickly now, Robin careful to give the outward appearance of consideration while in fact choosing from the humiliated teenagers at random.

"All done," Abrams croaked as Ben wearily awarded the unfortunate last-remaining individual his final sash. "The Team Day activity will now commence." Abrams smiled thinly and the skin around her mouth looked more withered than ever.


	2. Rachel

Raven's foot catches on a tree root and she stumbles, the unyielding material of her skirt snapping taut across her thigh. Throwing out an arm, she catches herself against a tree trunk.

"These uniforms weren't made for running," says Robin.

"How much further?" Raven looks up.

"Not far." Robin wipes his mouth with the back of his hand; there's sweat on his upper lip. Crickets tick in the dusty undergrowth. Around them the trees creak softly, their scent is bone-dry, faintly smoky. Parched earth crunches underfoot. The forest is hard with yesterday's sun.

They start walking again. Raven watches the ground; her shadow is lost in the blotted moonlight. Suddenly she stops and looks back.

"What is it?" says Robin.

"Listen," Raven breathes. The nighttime noises of the woodland press in around them like a suffocating blanket. Then, distantly, a dog barks. The sound pierces, leaving a straining stillness in its wake.

"They're searching for us already," Robin whispers. He grabs Raven's elbow. "Come on."

**

The teams were assigned areas in which to work. The classrooms were no longer referred to by number or letter, but by colour.

"This is it," Robin said, rapping his knuckles on the doorframe which had been painted brown. He pushed the door open and turned to the others. "Go in and clear a space in the middle."

The seven teenagers went into the classroom and began pushing desks and tables back against the walls. Robin saw a couple exchange uncertain glances. He was careful to remember their faces.

"Alright," he said, striding into the middle of the room. "Stand in a circle."

Again, his command was obeyed. Robin glanced at each member of his team in turn, overlooking Raven as casually as he could manage. His heart was pounding.

"You –" he addressed the boy, Earnest. "Close the door."

Earnest quickly did so and the room became at once very dark without the light from the corridor. Robin folded his arms across his chest and waited. He could hear the others shifting nervously. The tension in the room was high. A couple of them, the new ones, the Blind ones, didn't know what to expect. Once their eyes had adjusted and they could more or less see each other, Robin cleared his throat. His skin prickled and he was certain that Raven was watching him.

"As Minder Abrams said, we're here to work, as a team, on our inner-vision. I know that some of you are new to the Centre and at the moment you might not be able to See, but that's what this session is for. The Master will show us." Robin turned in a slow circle. "The Master will show us," he murmured again. His words were greeted with silence. "Let's get started. We will go around the team and you will tell the rest of us your name. I'll go first. My name is Robert, I am under the Master's eye." Robin went to stand between Earnest and the auburn-haired girl who had demanded a place on the team. He nodded to her. She stepped into the middle of the circle.

"My name is Callie, I am under the Master's eye." She stepped back into place and glanced expectantly at the boy standing next to her. He shuffled forward and wet his lips nervously.

"Um, my name is Taj, I am…under the Master's eye?"

After Taj came Alec, John, Wade. Robin started slightly at the sound of Raven's voice when her turn finally came.

"My name is Rachel, I am under the Master's eye." Her voice was quiet but clear. Robin thought he saw her eyes flicker in his direction for a split second before she resumed her place in the circle and Earnest took his turn.

"Good," said Robin once the boy was finished. "Now we know each other. It's time to pray together." He got down on his knees and the others followed suit. "Close your eyes," he said, then bowed his head, dropped his voice to a reverent murmur and began chanting: "Save me, my Master. I am filth, I am unworthy, but my life is yours, my soul is yours. Save me, my Master, I am filth, I am unworthy, but my life is yours, my soul is yours." It took several repetitions before everyone was saying it with him, mimicking his tone. He tried to pick out Raven's voice from the others.

"Save me, my Master…"

He remembered how she used to meditate every morning. Her face would be still and composed as she spoke her words, her brows very slightly furrowed in concentration. He used to wonder where she went. He used to wonder what meaning her mantra held for her.

"…I am filth, I am unworthy, but my life is yours…"

This had to be as big a joke to her as it was to him. This was not meditation. This was not prayer. This was brainwashing; the unrelenting drip of water from a faucet that couldn't be shut off. With each repetition the water inched up, slowly, slowly, the trickle grew into a stream, then deepened, became a river. Enough repetition and before you knew it you were being swept under and away.

"…my soul is yours…"

Robin didn't try to fight the current. He floated on the surface while the others submerged themselves, week after week. Raven was floating too. This Robin had to believe.

He took a chance, opened his eyes and looked up. Raven was staring straight at him, her lips pressed firmly together. Robin continued to chant. The volume of noise in the dark classroom was rising. Some of the others rocked back and forth, hands clasped, their voices shaking. The girl, Callie, was crying and ringing her hands. Robin kept them at it. His tenuous track on the time told him that they had an hour to go yet. The teenage voices were rough now. The fever was spreading. Callie's hysteria was a living thing; it lurched in amongst them, infectious. Robin's voice remained steady. He anchored them all, barely. He held Raven's gaze. It was contact. It was grabbing the hand of another person as they were hurled on by the raging torrent. But he could find no solace in her look, not the remotest offer of reassurance.

What happened next Robin had no control over. He hadn't noticed the sudden absence of Callie's cries and he was startled to find her suddenly standing.

"Look at her – she's not praying! She's disrespecting the Master." Callie's voice was at such a pitch at she was almost screaming as she pointed accusingly at Raven. The words of the chant died on Robin's lips. Raven too had risen calmly to her feet.

"Sit down, both of you," Robin barked. The others, still caught up in their frenzied prayer, took a moment to become aware that something was happening.

"I won't!" Callie sobbed. She was trembling, glaring at Raven. "That girl wasn't praying. What if she's a spy –?"

"Sit. Down." Robin didn't raise his voice, but in the breathless quiet that followed, it seemed as if he had bellowed.

"She's a – spy," Callie hiccupped. "I knew it the moment I saw her."

Robin did nothing for several seconds, then, slowly, he got to his feet. He had grown taller than Raven in the last year, and he stood at least half a foot above Callie.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm Silver Elite," he sneered. "I think I'd know if she was a spy."

"I know about you, Robert," Callie said shakily. "You choose favourites, people no one else trusts, and you protect them and make sure nothing happens to them. Your secret little club. I know about you! I know how you lied about that boy Stephen –"

Robin crossed the room in two strides and caught her by the arm. "Who exactly do you think you're talking to?"

"I–I want a Minder!" she shrieked, pulled away from him. Her face was red and blotchy, her eyes unfocused. Robin shook his head as he watched her stumble over to the door.

"Get a grip of yourself, Callie."

The doorway was filled with dazzling light from the corridor and the group of teenagers winced and recoiled.

"What is going on in here?" Minder Abrams' dark outline appeared and Callie cried out in alarm.

"A spy, Minder," the girl said in a small voice.

"What?" Abrams moved into the classroom and stared around, her nostrils flaring. Her gaze finally came to rest on Robin. "Explain, Robert."

"She's hysterical."

"No, I'm not! It's that girl, she wasn't praying," said Callie.

"Yes she was. I heard her." Robin shifted so that he was standing in front of Raven. "I heard her, Minder."

"Liar," Callie hissed. She turned her tearstained face back to Abrams. "Please, Minder, earlier, after Rejuvenation, I saw that girl hide something inside her pillow case – a book. You'll find it if you check."

Abrams' brows rose and her eyes snapped to Raven.

"You, girl, what is your name?"

"Rachel."

The Minder narrowed her eyes. "Well you will come with me this instant."

"Minder," Robin said rapidly, "She's a member of my team."

"Yes, yes, you come as well."

"I can show you where she hid the book," Callie began eagerly. Her voice no longer shook, though her eyes were still glazed and she was breathing heavily. Abrams raised a hand to silence her.

"You are to remain here," she said coldly. "I will deal with this." She swept out of the classroom, Robin and Raven following in her wake.

**

"There it is." Robin points up at a length of barbed wire that's visible overhead. He has to force his way through a thicket before he's close enough for his hand to connect with the chain link fence. Raven is at his side a moment later. She hooks her fingers through the wire, testing it. She notices then that their forearms are covered in scratches.

"Start climbing," says Robin, looking back at the trees. They can hear the dogs as well as raised voices now. They're much closer.

"I think I can pass through," says Raven.

"How can you be sure? Are your powers –?" A dog snarls somewhere in the darkness. Their pursuers are approaching fast. Robin steps back from the fence. "Do it, Raven, just do it. You have to go."

"Come with me," the girl says.

"I'm not coming with you, you know I'm not."

"They're gone, Robin," Raven says. "Staying here won't bring them back." She reaches for his hand and he moves further away.

"Go!" he says. "Go now or they'll find us both."

Raven's eyes widen as she sees a figure leap from the shadows. "Look out!"


	3. The Time Before

Abrams' hand rested on Robin's shoulder.

"You, Robert, you are one of the Elite's finest. Your dedication to the Master is unquestionable."

"Thank you, Minder."

"However," she continued gravely. "It seems to me that the …charismatic aspects of your personality have become too pronounced. You're a popular young man, and of course the Master rewards fraternity amongst his followers, but you would do well not to lose sight of your role here at the Centre."

"Forgive me, Minder." Robin frowned. "I don't understand your meaning."

Abrams leaned forward, her voice reedy and close.

"I will speak plainly then. Myself and several of the other Minders have noticed that your attention is frequently on other students below your rank. It is inappropriate. It gives off the wrong signals. You are here to serve the Master's will, above all else. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Minder." Robin bowed his head. Abrams' hand tightened fractionally on his shoulder, then she stepped back, her expression inscrutable as she fussily straightened her white robes.

"Good," she murmured. Robin tried to imagine her as someone's grandmother in the Time Before, reading the newspaper in her favourite chair, pulling a tray of cookies from the oven, hunkering down over a flower bed, a straw hat perched on her head. His imagination failed as he gazed at her hard, crumpled face.

"Now," she was saying. "I must get to the hall for the final speech."

Robin straightened. "What about the girl?"

"She's to remain in the Minders' room until I have time to deal with her." Abrams eyed Robin shrewdly. "I want you to watch her. Try to ascertain how she got that book."

"Minder." Robin inclined his head once more and waited until the sound of Abrams' footfalls receded. He then made his way to the Minders' room – formerly a teachers' lounge. A sink, a counter, a table, a low row of empty shelves and some chairs were all that stood in the way of furnishings. There was a single window beside which Raven was seated, one leg crossed over the other, hands folded neatly on her knee. Robin picked up a chair that stood by the door and carried it across the room. He halted in front of Raven and set the chair down, straddling it comfortably.

"So," he said. "Rachel, isn't it?"

"Yes." Raven lifted a hand and pushed aside the blackout curtain which covered the window. A slat of ripe, red sunlight spilt across her face and she blinked several times.

"Rachel," Robin repeated, his voice forceful. "You're in a lot of trouble."

Raven's features remained impassive. She allowed the curtain to fall back into place. Neither of them spoke for a while. Robin tapped his side of his booted foot restlessly against the leg of his chair.

"Do you know about the storeroom?" Robin asked her abruptly.

"No, I don't."

"It's near here." He jerked his chin towards the door. "I could show you."

"When?"

"Now."

"I'm in a lot of trouble," Raven pointed out flatly. "And the Minder told me she was coming back."

"Not for a while." Robin stood up. "Come on."

Raven raised an eyebrow, but got to her feet without further comment. They left the room together and, walking quickly, ascended a flight of stairs, then made their way through an empty room that had once served as a library. A set of double doors led them out into a wide corridor. Robin halted outside an unmarked door on the left and knocked. When no one answered, he pushed the door open and gestured for Raven to go in first. She stepped into the dank little room, pausing to nudge aside a fallen mop with her foot. There were shelves on the walls stacked with dusty boxes and paint tins and at the back was an old floor buffer and a dented metal bin. Raven felt the brush of a cobweb against her face.

Robin cast hasty glances up and down the corridor before ducking in after her and pulling the door shut. For a moment it was too dark to make out anything and Robin was reminded forcibly of the chanting sessions.

"Raven," he said. His voice was tight. "Why are you here? Why, Raven?"

She stiffened. The name she had not heard in months made her heart seize. It became a hard convulsing thing like a hand fisting in her chest. "My name's Rachel," she said.

"No one can hear us in here."

Raven blinked, her pupils dilated now, stretched and round. The slivers of light around the doorframe bled into the shadows, and she could see some of her companion. The whites of his eyes, the dark hole of his mouth.

"Why are you here, Raven?" he said again.

"I was caught."

Robin knocked into something and it hit the floor with a clatter. Raven watched him stoically. He hesitated, then put a hand out and leant on a shelf. "Caught?" he said. "How?"

"My powers stopped working."

"What?"

"I can't use my powers."

"Why not? Since when?"

"I don't know why," said Raven. "I just can't."

Robin took a long while to reply and when he did his voice was low and different:

"Is it because of…what happened?"

"I don't know," said Raven. "I can only do small things." She waited a beat, then asked: "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I want to be. I volunteered." Robin threw it out to see what she'd say, but she remained silent. "I've been working on the inside," he went on. "I'm in a good position. I can help people."

"There are better ways," said Raven. "Purposefully entering yourself into this system? Into a major Reprogramming Centre? Do you know there are hundreds of them now? They're going for the young, destroying the psychic integrity of their minds –"

Robin cut her off. "I can do more damage from the inside."

"How?"

"By climbing through the ranks. I'm already Silver Elite. With the influence I have I've been able to get four people out. I can get you out."

There was a pause before Raven responded:

"I don't intend to leave without you. If you stay, I stay."

"That won't work."

"Why not?"

"Because look at your situation. They suspect you."

"So what? You need all the help you can get."

"Raven, you've been caught with a book. You'll be lucky if they don't decide to lobotomise you."

Raven said nothing.

"I'm not kidding." Robin shook his head. "I've seen it happen. They do it to the ones they can't break. You have to get out of here. Alright? Raven?"

"How much do you know about the resistance?" the girl asked suddenly.

"Omen?" Robin rubbed the back of his neck. "I established contact with one of theirs down in the town. I haven't communicated with him in months. It's been too dangerous lately."

"And he takes the children – the ones you help escape?"

"Yes. Listen, I'll find a way to contact him. He'll help you get to the underground."

"How did you get the others out?" Raven asked.

"Through the forest. There's a twelve-foot fence around the perimeter. Once you're over there's a main road that leads into the village. You'll have to be careful, they've set up Enforcer outposts."

"We can get out together," said Raven. "We can make a difference with Omen."

Robin turned to her. The set of his jaw was startlingly familiar, but the rest of his face was strange to her.

"I have to stay."

"That's it, that's your final decision?"

"Yes."

"Fine," Raven said stiffly. "What happens if they suspect that you have something to do with my escape? Your position will be compromised."

"I'm careful," Robin said tersely. "We haven't got much time. I won't be able to talk to you again for a while. We can't give them any reason to be suspicious."

"Alright." Raven nodded. "Tell me your plan."

**

"Hey, spy, are you going to answer me?" Callie spat. She stood with her hip stuck out, her head cocked at a sharp angle on her neck. Both her arms were drawn up at her sides and she gestured with aggressive little stabs of her fingers, sometimes she pointing right in Raven's face.

"Where did you get that book from?" Callie's eyebrows twitched and arched.

Raven stood up from the army cot that served as her bed and the girls who had clustered around backed up a bit, but only a bit. They were hoping for a fight.

"I suppose you're part of Robert's little club now?" said Callie. She was not about to let this go. Raven got a momentary flash of her aura. It snapped and simmered. She could feel then the other girl's cruel enjoyment at this interrogation. Raven locked eyes with her for a moment and was rewarded with a flicker of hesitation. Callie's eyes were flat and blue with thin, papery lids and rough, black lashes, no mascara. Very few girls were allowed that luxury.

"Can't you speak or something?" Callie snorted. "Spy." She plastered a disgusted expression on her face, shaking her head and curling her lip. The other girls – perhaps they were Callie's friends – grinned and laughed appreciatively.

From behind them a sonorous ringing erupted, hollow metal sound that cut through all other noise in the hall. Immediately there was a slapping shuffle of bare feet as the girls dispersed and headed to their beds. Callie was the last one to go – she felt she had to make a point, so she knocked deliberately into Raven's bed as she went, toppling the cot onto its side.

"Woops. Guess you'll have to find a new place to hide your books." Callie smiled maliciously before walking away. Raven righted the cot quickly before one of the Minders saw, tugging the thin sheet straight.

"Quiet now," Minder Abrams snapped from the front of the room. Many hours had passed since her return to the teacher's lounge where she had found Robin and Raven waiting for her. Raven had been issued them with a mop and bucket and ordered to clean every toilet in the school. After that, she'd spent four hours in solitary confinement. She was allowed no food or water. Abrams then ordered her back to the girls' hall. No sooner had she reached her cot however, than Raven had been made to endure Callie's relentless questioning. Though Raven could scarcely admit it to herself, the sight of Abrams' prune-like face rather relieved her. It meant that a Rejuvenation session was about to begin.

"It is time to rest," the Minder announced, and waved a hand vaguely at the hall's high windows, which were, of course, blacked out. There were no clocks at the Centre, regularity was not allowed. For most, any innate awareness of time had been broken down and distorted beyond recognition long ago. Raven followed a thinning trail back through her mind. The link to time was like a piece of delicate string which she must handle with care.

"You may now begin Rejuvenation," Abrams said with an air of munificence. Raven lowered herself down onto her cot. She wondered how long they would be allowed to sleep for. The overhead lights were shut off, one row at a time, and then the hall was locked in darkness. The Minders had a tiny lamp which stood on their table near the doors, and its bluish glow seemed to filter gradually through the entire room.

Raven lay on her back with her eyes hooded and her arms wound behind her head. She felt a strange sense of freedom lying like this. She remembered her old bedroom. Her bed. She used lie on her side, her arms cradled close to her. What had she been protecting herself from, then?

The hall was now an inky dome. Raven felt the currents slow as the minds around her faded into the unconscious realm. Occasional thoughts lurched to the surface and darted, rippling, through the shadows. Raven thought of fish, the bright gleam of coin-gold scales flickering and then vanishing in the murk.

A Minder passed Raven's bed with a torch. She closed her eyes and feigned sleep until the padding footfalls receded.

"Rachel."

Raven remained very still.

"Rachel." The voice whispered again, almost noiseless, but they had learned to listen for these breaths of sound during 'rejuvenation time'.

"Rachel, I know you're awake."

Raven turned her head slowly and looked at the cot to the right of her own. She saw the girl who laid there, her small, round face just dimly visible.

"What do you want?" Raven said. Her voice was similarly hushed.

"I heard you had a fight with a Silver Elite." The girl – her name was Amy – looked scared and fascinated.

"Go to sleep," Raven said, and rolled her head back to stare up at the roof.

"Rachel?" Amy said. Raven ignored her. Amy whispered the false name twice more before giving up. Raven sensed satisfaction bleeding off the girl. She must have thought that she had achieved something by making Raven speak to her.

At some point Raven closed her eyes and Starfire came to her. The Tamaranian was as striking as ever. She was helping light candles around Raven's room. She was sitting cross-legged on floor, hugging a pillow, her head tilted to the side as she listened intently.

The Time Before, then.

Raven was in the training room – they were all there. Cyborg and Beast Boy arguing, wrestling, laughing. Their laughter reverberating through Raven's head. Robin was standing behind her, adjusting the positioning of her arms, making corrections to her stance, talking easily to her. They were all outside together in the cool shade of the old cedar tree.

They were at the police station. A man with a red beard was speaking to them across a desk and his words flooded Raven with a sense of terrible foreboding.

They were searching for a missing person – one of the hundreds who were simply vanishing from the city.

They were watching a news bulletin. Something big was happening. The grainy figures on the screen were running in a panic. There was death and terror like a putrid stink.

Raven was teleporting down through the floors of a building, energy pulsing through her in waves. The remembrance of such power made her ache. The weightlessness of it. She was holding up her arms, raising a shield while someone screamed and screamed – where were the others? – she was surrounded by men in bulky uniforms, they were shooting at her. They looked like the army, but they weren't.

Were the police there?

The shooting was continuous, gunfire a mindless beast tearing and gaping, blood that was black, bursting, opening like flowers, a smell of bodies, torn, emptying in the streets.

Raven was trying to find the others. She searched, blank with her horror, holding it. Holding it close.

Home. She went to the door, hanging on one hinge. Where were the others? The main room. A smoking hole in the wall. Black, black. Waves struck her, over and over, ceaselessly it seemed. But then there was Robin, his face very near, his quick hands gripping her.

Alive then.

The others –

"...from your beds. Rejuvenation time is now over. Rise from your beds." Minder Abrams' voice jolted Raven into consciousness as surely as if she had been physically shaken. The ringing had started up again. The lights were back on, glaringly bright. Raven could barely open her eyes; the remnants of her dreams clung to her, fogging reality even as her surroundings demanded immediate awareness.

"Rejuvenation time is now over," Abrams' repeated. "Rise from your beds and form a line against the wall."

Raven pushed her face into her pillow and felt the course fabric scrape her wet cheeks. She pressed her lips until they were stiff and white, then forced herself up. She rose up from the cot and pulled the sheet straight, then walked unsteadily off to join the rest of the girls where they were gathered. She went to the back of the line and rested against the chilly brick wall. Closing her eyes, she felt back along the thread of time. She reached the end and shook her head. They had only been allowed to sleep for an hour.


End file.
